Antonello

Antonello (died 1498) was a young Italian Dominican monk who was sent by Cardinal Giuliano Della Rovere to assassinate Pope Alexander VI in 1498.

Biography
Antonello was a young Dominican monk from Florence, and he became a supporter of Friar Girolamo Savonarola and Cardinal Giuliano Della Rovere. In 1498, he volunteered to sacrifice himself to kill Pope Alexander VI, ridding the world of the Borgia pope; Della Rovere had him sample several potions of cantarella to strengthen his reaction to the poison. He then drowned the Pope's taste tester, Brother Bernardino, and he poisoned the Pope's water at the baptism of Giovanni Borgia. The Pope did not drink the water, instead choosing to drink wine. Antonello eventually succeeded when he poisoned the wine, and he died after taste-testing it; Pope Alexander was nearly killed by the dose of cantarella.